New NIMA director announced

Related Links

James Clapper Jr. will take over as the new director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the first civilian to hold the position.

The Pentagon and the CIA jointly announced the decision Aug. 8.

Clapper, who has more than 37 years of experience in intelligence, will replace Army Lt. Gen. James King, who will retire later this year.

As a lieutenant general in the Air Force, Clapper served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Since his retirement from the military, he has held executive positions in the commercial sector, including executive director for military and intelligence at Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc. and most recently as vice president and director of intelligence programs at SRA International Inc.

NIMA provides the Defense Department and intelligence agencies with images, image intelligence and geospatial information in support of national security.

Clapper's appointment is the latest in a series of changes in the intelligence community. CIA Director George Tenet announced several personnel moves during the first week of August. They include:

* John Helgerson, currently deputy director of NIMA, will be chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

A two-year campaign that prompted the Department of Homeland Security to issue its first-ever emergency directive to agencies to shore up cyber defenses appears in part to have been an attempt to spy on U.S. government internet traffic.